Formation Monthly Deploy: March 2026

Welcome to the Formation Monthly Deploy, our monthly blog highlighting achievements, insights, and innovations from across the Formation ecosystem. Whether you're a current Fellow navigating challenges, an Alumni building your career, or a Mentor guiding others, this space is designed to keep you connected to your community.

🌎 Engineering tip from Sophie Novati

Interviews test execution, not trivia ⛷️

In today's market, getting your code to pass, with or without AI, is table stakes. It is not the end of training. Real improvement only happens after the solution works.

✅ Interrogate the solution. Don’t just accept what you (or AI) produced. Why this approach? What are the tradeoffs? Could you simplify it? Make it more readable? Improve edge-case handling?

🗣️ Own the reasoning. In modern interviews, you’re evaluated on judgment you demonstrate, so practice that step also! Why this data structure? Why not another? If requirements changed, how would your design adapt? This exercise is best done with a friend who can give you feedback, or do it out loud to yourself.

🔁 Rewrite your code from scratch. You already understand the algorithm. Now, implement it again and treat it like a timed rep. Notice where you hesitate, which edge cases aren’t automatic, and how long the full implementation actually takes. That timing awareness is critical in interviews. Do it immediately, but also revisit it 48 hours or more later to test retention.

❌ If you skip this phase, you are putting in 80% of the effort for 50% of the results.

At Formation, the loop is simple: Build it. Interrogate it. Own it. Rewrite it. That is how working code turns into real skill.

🌊 Recent Rising Tide winners

Each month, we recognize Fellows who consistently lift others up through collaboration, encouragement, and thoughtfulness. Our recent Rising Tide winners exemplified what it means to show up well for the community.

Roman Avdashkevich was recognized for creating focused peer study sessions that helped others deepen their understanding. Roman’s nominator shared: “They put out a call to study Python-specific questions, which I responded to. I think we've been pairing really effectively, and they've created a focused environment to review concepts together. It's content I'd struggle to get through alone, but it's been sticking much more easily due to these sessions.”

Thank you, Roman, for helping make learning collaborative and engaging for everyone around you.

🌟Recent Lighthouse Award winners

The Lighthouse Award recognizes mentors who consistently guide, support, and elevate Fellows through clarity, care, and deep expertise.

Alex Holeniev was recognized for creating a highly engaging mock interview experience that balanced challenge and encouragement. One Fellow shared: “Working with Alex has been such a delight this week. I had a really engaging mock interview with him and loved his balanced approach to feedback and the thoughtfulness in selecting a question based on my interview targets. I came away learning so much and feeling more confident than I felt going into the session.”

Norman Peter was recognized for providing detailed technical insights and actionable interview preparation advice. A Fellow shared: “Highly technical and accurate information. Norman gave tips and additional prep material for preparing for big tech interviews, offered insight into the process, and recognized contributions during the session. Extremely knowledgeable and detail oriented.”

Thank you to Alex and Norman for the care and expertise you bring to the Formation community.

🏆 Highlighted recent placements

We’re celebrating Fellows who turned persistence into progress and landed new roles, even in a challenging market.

Jon Kim → MetaJon’s journey to Meta was built on extraordinary dedication and preparation.

After receiving an interview invite from his top-choice company, Jon committed fully to getting ready. Jon shared: “Everyone’s situation is different. I was fortunate to have a supportive wife, insight into Meta’s process, and the time to prepare properly. By the time the interviews came around, I knew I had done everything I could to be ready.” Jon’s story is a powerful example of what focused preparation and persistence can achieve.

Daniel Citron → FastbreakDaniel reflected on the mindset that helped him navigate a long search: “Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity. You can’t control every interview outcome, but you can control how prepared you are when the opportunity shows up.”

Austin Bundy → U.S. BankAustin shared a simple piece of advice for Fellows currently in the program: “Get into a good rhythm and trust the process. Look for small wins week-to-week and take advantage of all the resources offered here at Formation.”

📅 Join us for Upcoming Live Studio Workshops

Want to sharpen your interview instincts before your next loop? Join us for these free, mentor-led Studio Sessions designed to help you understand what strong interview performance actually looks like.

What Interviewers Actually Mean by “Senior-Level” Code📅 March 12, 2026⏰ 7pm EDT Your code was correct—but that doesn’t always mean it passed the interview. In this free Studio Session, you’ll review real coding interviews and learn why strong engineers still fail, and what interviewers actually recognize as senior-level signal. 👉 RSVP

Hiring Manager Game Show

📅 March 18, 2026⏰ 7pm EDT

Step into the seat of the hiring committee. In this interactive session, you’ll score real interview answers alongside a hiring manager and calibrate your instincts on what strong signal actually looks like in today’s hiring market.

👉 RSVP

Mapping Stories to Interview Questions

📅 March 25, 2026⏰ 8pm EDT

Stop guessing which story to tell. Join Formation and former Meta Engineering Manager Austen McDonald for a hands-on workshop where you’ll learn how to recognize the trait behind behavioral questions and tailor your answer to the signal interviewers are evaluating.

👉 RSVP

See you next month!

We’re always proud of how this community shows up — with generosity, determination, and drive. Keep asking questions, lifting each other up, and pushing the limits of what you thought you could do.

Until next month,
The Formation Team

This blog is adapted from our monthly newsletter, The Monthly Deploy. If you're not yet part of the Formation community but would also like these updates directly in your inbox, subscribe to our blog.